Change agent: This month marks the 30-year anniversary of economic reforms launched by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. The opening up of the economy unleashed an explosion of economic development that since 1981 has freed an astounding 600 million plus Chinese from extreme poverty and made China a leading world power. Here, a man passes a billboard of Deng with a modern-day skyline near the Olympic Sailing Center in Qingdao, about 340 miles (550 km) southeast of Beijing, on July 1.